Earth compactor



Dec. 14, 1954 R. s. MOKESSON 2,696,770

EARTH COMPACTOR Filed May 26, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 20.4197 5.M56350 lrrap/vn Dec. 14, 1954 R. s. MOKESSON 2,696,770

EARTH COMPACTOR Filed May 26, 1952 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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EARTHEQMBAQTQIS; Ra at 55- Msle s a Ser a axle e ita. Application May26,1952, Serial ;No 289,941

Claims; (cl! 94150 i flied i e h re n? l. l t, awn-,bv 'r' eb sq m lfatni eisx mes that eachlayefl or. lift'of' the 'fill 'or thenrass of may,becompa'ctedinto requisite dq j ityr 'Therear special requirements o fan earth eompgctg and it is a general object ofi inyfinventionfto, rneetmos't' 'I orall ojsu chrequirern nts'. tolf ifl It is anobject ofr'nnventiontoprovi de anearth corn; pacifie st mf a'g d I I I i y l aAnother object of ,invj'ent' his to provide, an Compactor ,eife ctivetofconc'e'ritra a hgea compaction: badbver a small a ea, of ground 1 anerwh'jchtdbes, not strainthe compactor severel no e bi ct'of thei iw ntis ep qv d an arth compactor capable of operating uderjadversef circurnfstances on terrain of irregular-nature, g n er b e t of mv" nv iit oni 0P o d Qm: pactoruse fulto cornpact'ear t h aljacent Various disc f 4 a25 s h r iarein e sibyadd an l 2 he. Q q tbflfi e r h cl? m me. si s m lthe qd it t al a t i he S na omehea 'ncefsufchas pig iron or ir on orepr,concrete or the;

'e .1 d;.dr the; ba a t i he d-1:11 esn q a y 1 like. when the rt t ampct s,..m ewtdytr ler e trou h) ,e nt abri at d,

.- q fthe; ba a f he bottom s s whi e s:

" fisab H kb ide artofthe. t m jc. e rth. amila. qn p qvi elas air oflongi tudi ally ..ex-

groun I sllpwa in. Fi lan 3, P

tihuities'such as walls curb th d or '1 tending trun 'xles j3grespectiye These pa l ja h u ss ;.1 v x rot me l l h "Another Object Qtm .p o e an .earth- 'pqr l r. 0 P. .t .on mdi all extend-ins. compactorreadily set or changed intheffield to adapt it rods 33. whereas arepreferably Iiblll'ltfid; by securing promptly to variant field condit is, blocks 34 and-?q'ti atgtheiropposite ends: The blocks them-I "A stillfurther object of myjinyenti on is in general to selvesfa'refastenetitoreinforcing channels'37iand 38in: improyeear'th compactors.clude d in the bottom 22 offjthe 'con'lpactor body' The Other objects,together with the foregoing are attained rods 33 at tlieir-opposite endsare reducedin' diameterin the embodiment of my inventionf described inthe to define shoulders and are sofastenedfthatthey areaccompanying-description and illustratec l ln he ac'coni i firmly-held;in or cl-anipedlongitudinally between the. panyingdrawings in which inioun'ting' blocks 34mg 36; Thus, they-constitute not Figure 'lfis aside elevation of an earth icompa ctor only struts spanning thewheelalley 241m also serve as; constructed in accordance withlmy invention,apo rtio'n; rnountin'gsfiorthe rest of the trunnion axles 31 and 3 2.-of the'draft tongue'b'eing oir' ittedto re d uce theisli zg oi 'Eachlof'the-axl es incorporate-s apairof bearings 3? the figure. and4 1 ofisuchshape and size as also-toconstitutethrust Figure 2 is acrosssectionto an enlarged scale ofthe members bearing against theadjacent blocks 34'ar1d 36. structure of Figuile'l; the pland'ohsectiontseingiadr The longitudinal positiono= the trunnion-axles is there;catedby thelineiz llof'Figure 'll I fore established-Within closelirnits. desiredyantifric- Figure is. a fragmentary} cross section,- thejplane o f tionithrust'bear ings can bQsUtiliZEdi but inmost instancessection being indicated by the line 3--3 'of"Fig'ur'2 theyv are inotnecessar-y. Each ofwthe trunnion axl'es3l' Figure 4 is a diagrammaticcross section similar to and 32 is therefore rotatableaboutits-respectiyeone of-= Figure 2ubutto a reduced scale and showing"the earth a pair ofi l'ongitudinallyextending parallel axes 42-andcompactor in ,one variant fornrofarrangement for opera- 4 3=,i r.eferredtto. as f first axestf If: desired,- :thesame .relation. tivemotiontcanbe provided by locking theutrunnion FigureS is a view similarto Figure 4 and showing, axles: 31 and. 32 .totheir respectivetrunnionrods 33- and another variantnarrangementof the earth compagtor,journalingfithe trunnion rods 33 'inithe, mounting. blocks Figure 46 isa view similarto-vFigureA but showing a 34zand 3.6.1. This is=primarilya matter of fastening; the differentpositibnwofroperation Ofithe jt mpaor .1 rodsv 33 either in thenbl'ocks34-andy36or in the trunnion- "Figure7 isiaviewcomparable to Figure 4 butishoW- axles 31iand;32 as desifdixing another variant position of operation of the earth M u t d eachof;the tfunnipn-"axles 3llandu32yand COIIIPKCIOI- in identicalrelationship so that the description of one Whlle earth Compactor can beembosiled m a applies also to the other is a transversely extendingwheel P of dlffemnt forms l can be varled m many Ways axle 44. The wheelaxle is offset by the distance be- It 113.3 successfiuny beenIncorporated Show tween its rotational axis 46 and the axis 43, forexample. g g In this fi the g g; comtpacior ls The axis 46 extendsgenerally transversely of the vehicle 6 fawn over- 6 groun y a me or erSm and is the axis of rotation about which the axle 44 is able draftvehicle no? Shown' The -tractor ls attached s mmetrical The axis 46 isreferred to as a second axis by means of a draft hltch 7 of any suitablesort arranged y axle 4 is referabl a turned member anchore'd at theforward end of a draft tongue 8, the d1rect1on of e P g 32 d t d advanceof the mechanlsm normally being 1n the d1recfifmly 1n the trl-mmon 3X Pex en 5 0n PP 6 sides of the center of such trunruon axle.

tion of the arrow 9 in Figure l. I

The draft tongue 8 is actually part of a body 11 fab- 0 Mounted forrotation on the oppositely extending 8 ricated of suitable plates andshapes. The body is genportions of the wheel axle 44 are ground engagingwheels 51 and 52 including not only wheel hubs of a suitable nature butalso pneumatic tires for supporting the structure. Each of the wheels 51and 52 is individually journaled so as to be individually rotatableabout the second axis 46 and in addition each of the wheels 51 and 52 isof such a size and is so located that it is substantially containedwithin the wheel alley 24 beneath the arched plate 23 and within theside confines of the plates 14 and 16. The wheels 51 and 52 are also ofa size to have adequate clearance with respect to the reinforcingcentral plate 21. Since the first axis 4-3 has an offset 53 from thesecond axis 46 by an amount equal to the shortest distance between suchaxes, represented by the arrow in Figure 2, there is adequate clearancebetween one pair of the ground engaging wheels and the adjacent pair ofwheels. There is also plenty of clearance between each pair of wheelsand the parts of the body despite the fact that the wheels are in effectin eccentric position when they rotate about the longitudinal axes 42and 43.

This arrangement is particularly valuable under various operatingconditions of compaction. Some of these conditions, although by no meansall of them, are represented in Figures 2 and -4 to 7. In Figure 2 isdisclosed the arrangement of the parts when a relatively low overallheight, low center of gravity and ground clearance are desired, it beingobserved that the offset 53 extends upwardly from the longitudinal axis33. In Figure 4 this condition has been changed to afford greater groundclearance by rotating each of the pairs of wheels about its own one ofthe as illustrated by the arrows 54 and 56 in Figure 2. This rotation iselfectuated by jacking up the earth compactor body temporarily andmanually rotating the Wheels, as shown by the arrows, and then restoringthe compactor body. The weight then rests upon the wheels after theyhave been rotated through substantially one half of a revolution aboutthe first axes. In this higher position, or position of greater groundclearance, as shown in Figure 4, adjacent structures such as a curb 57are readily cleared by the overhanging parts of the compactor bodyespecially when the compactor is being maneuvered against or away fromthe curb.

If only one of the pairs of wheels is inverted, as shown particularly inFigure 5, then it is possible simultaneously to compact a lower lift 58and an upper lift 59 of the terrain. This is especially useful incompacting terraces, shoulders of highway paving, trenches and the like.There is a great advantage in this instance in having the compactor bodysubstantially level since then the center of gravity of the ballast isstill substantially central of the ground engaging members.

As illustrated particularly in Figure 6, by utilizing the inversion ofone pair of wheels, somewhat as in Figure 5, it is possible to compactan inclined bank, 61, and still keep the center of gravity of theballast approximately centrally located so that the compactor, eventhough heavily loaded and even though supported on an incline, is stillquite stable.

In Figure 7 there is illustrated a condition substantially the same asthat in Figure 2 with relatively small ground clearance or low over-allheight but in which the individual pairs of Wheels are free to oscillatefor initial compaction of irregular terrain.

Since the various wheel positions can readily be arranged in the fieldmerely by lifting the compactor body temporarily, rotating the wheelsand then restoring the compactor weight to them, it is possible to adaptthe compactor quite quickly to a variety of field conditions.Furthermore, in the event of difiiculties such as tire blowouts or thelike which sometimes occur, it is possible 1 by removing the blocks 34and 36 to replace an entire wheel pair unit with a spare unit with verylittle difficulty.

This can be done by moving the wheels either axially through the wheelalley or dropping them out below the raised body of the com actor.Furthermore, it is possible to utilize tires of di erent size anddifferent load carrying capacities by making a similar substitution.Furthermore, in the event of blowout of the inside tire, it is possibleto move the inside wheel to the outside position by rotating thetrunnion axle degrees. It is then possible, when the compactor isequipped with demountable wheels to change any tire without removing theentire trunnion and wheel assembly.

In general, therefore, the earth compactor of my invention represents asubstantial advance in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. An earth compactor comprising a body having a transverse welltherein, means for confining ballast on said body, a longitudinallyextending trunnion axle spanning said well, journals on said body andengaging the ends of said trunnion axle for mounting said trunnion axleon said body for rotation about a first axis, a transversely extendingwheel axle, means for securing said wheel axle to said trunnion axle inoffset relationship intermediate the ends thereof, ground engagingwheels, means for mounting said ground engaging Wheels on said wheelaxle on opposite sides of said trunnion axle for rotation about a secondaxis offset from said first axis, said wheels being disposed in saidwell and spaced from said body in all positions of said wheels throughat least half a revolution of said wheels about said first axis.

2. An earth compactor comprising a body having a transversely extendingwheel alley therein, a pair of longitudinally extending trunnion axlesspanning said alley, means engaging the ends of said trunnion axles forjournalling said axles on said body for rotation about respective onesof a pair of first axes, a pair of transversely extending wheel axles,means for securing each of said wheel axles to a respective one of saidtrunnion axles in oifset relationship intermediate the ends thereof,ground engaging wheels, means for mounting said ground engaging wheelson said wheel axles in pairs one on each side of said trunnion axles forrotation about second axes oifset from said first axes, said wheelsbeing disposed in said alley and spaced from said body and from eachother in all positions of said wheels through at least a half revolutionof said wheels about said first axes.

3. An earth compactor comprising a body including a bottom in partformed as a transversely extending arch of predetermined radius opentoward the ground and at both ends to define a wheel alley, a pair oflongitudinally extending horizontal trunnion axles spanning said alley,means for journaling the opposite ends of said trunnion axles on saidbody at points a predetermined transverse distance apart, a pair oftransversely extending wheel axles each joined adjacent its center tothe central portion of an associated one of said trunnion axles in anoffset relationship, and ground engaging wheels rotatably mounted onsaid wheel axles on opposite sides of said trunnion axles, each of saidwheels having a radius from the associated one of said trunnion axlesless than the distance to said wheel alley and less than half saidpredetermined distance between said trunnion axles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Re. 22,102 Reid May 26, 1942 1,640,217 Reid Aug. 23 19272,314,601 Ritchie Mar. 23, 1943 2,610,557 Bros Sept. 16, 1952

